2005 LINCOLN TOWN CAR Owners Manual

Front passenger sensing system
For airbags to do their job they must inflate with great force, and this
force can pose a potentially deadly risk to occupants that are very close
to the airbag when it begins to inflate. For some occupants, like infants
in rear-facing child seats, this occurs because they are initially sitting
very close to the airbag. For other occupants, this occurs when the
occupant is not properly restrained by seat belts or child safety seats and
they move forward during pre-crash braking. The most effective way to
reduce the risk of unnecessary injuries is to make sure all occupants are
properly restrained. Accident statistics suggest that children are much
safer when properly restrained in the rear seating positions than in the
front.
Air bags can kill or injure a child in a child seat.NEVERplace a
rear-facing child seat in front of an active air bag. If you must
use a forward-facing child seat in the front seat, move the seat all the
way back.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
The front passenger sensing system can automatically turn off the front
passenger front airbag when a rear facing child seat, a forward facing
child seat, or a booster seat is detected. Even with this technology,
parents areSTRONGLYencouraged to always properly restrain children
in the rear seat. The sensor also turns off the airbag when the passenger
seat is empty to prevent unnecessary replacement of the airbag(s) after
a collision.
When the front passenger seat is occupied and the sensing system has
turned off the passenger’s frontal airbag, the “pass airbag off” indicator
will light and stay lit to remind you that the front passenger frontal
airbag is off. SeeFront passenger sensing systemin the airbags section
of this chapter.
Front safety belt usage sensors
The front safety belt usage sensors detect whether or not the driver and
front outboard passenger safety belts are fastened. This information
allows your Personal Safety System to tailor the airbag deployment and
safety belt pretensioner activation depending upon safety belt usage.
Refer toSafety beltsection in this chapter.
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Front safety belt pretensioners
The safety belt pretensioners at the front outboard seating positions are
designed to tighten the safety belts firmly against the occupant’s body
during a frontal or near-frontal collision. This maximizes the effectiveness
of the safety belts and helps properly position the occupant relative to
the airbag to improve protection. The safety belt pretensioners can be
either activated alone or, if the collision is of sufficient severity, together
with the airbags.
Front safety belt energy management retractors
The front outboard safety belt energy management retractors allow
webbing to be pulled out of the retractor in a gradual and controlled
manner in response to the occupant’s forward momentum. This helps
reduce the risk of force-related injuries to the occupant’s chest by
limiting the load on the occupant. Refer toEnergy management feature
section in this chapter.
Determining if the Personal Safety System is operational
The Personal Safety System uses a warning light in the instrument
cluster or a back-up tone to indicate the condition of the system. Refer
to theWarning lightsection in theInstrument clusterchapter. Routine
maintenance of the Personal Safety System is not required.
The Restraints control module (RCM) monitors its own internal circuits
and the circuits for the airbag supplemental restraints, crash sensor(s),
safety belt pretensioners, front safety belt buckle sensors, and the driver
seat position sensor. In addition, the RCM also monitors the restraints
warning light in the instrument cluster. A difficulty with the system is
indicated by one or more of the following.
•The warning light will either flash or stay lit.
•The warning light will not illuminate immediately after ignition is
turned on.
•A series of five beeps will be heard. The tone pattern will repeat
periodically until the problem and warning light are repaired.
If any of these things happen, even intermittently, have the Personal
Safety System serviced at your dealership or by a qualified technician
immediately. Unless serviced, the system may not function properly in
the event of a collision.
Safety restraints precautions
Always drive and ride with your seatback upright and the lap
belt snug and low across the hips.
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To reduce the risk of injury, make sure children sit in the back
seat where they can be properly restrained.
Never let a passenger hold a child on his or her lap while the
vehicle is moving. The passenger cannot protect the child from
injury in a collision.
All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always
properly wear their safety belts, even when an airbag
supplemental restraint system (SRS) is provided.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or
outside of a vehicle. In a collision, people riding in these areas
are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to
ride in any area of your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and
safety belts. Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a
safety belt properly.
In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely
to die than a person wearing a safety belt.
Each seating position in your vehicle has a specific safety belt
assembly which is made up of one buckle and one tongue that
are designed to be used as a pair. 1) Use the shoulder belt on the
outside shoulder only. Never wear the shoulder belt under the arm. 2)
Never swing the safety belt around your neck over the inside shoulder.
3) Never use a single belt for more than one person.
Always transport children 12 years old and under in the back
seat and always properly use appropriate child restraints.
Safety belts and seats can become hot in a vehicle that has been
closed up in sunny weather; they could burn a small child. Check
seat covers and buckles before you place a child anywhere near them.
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Combination lap and shoulder belts
1. Insert the belt tongue into the
proper buckle (the buckle closest to
the direction the tongue is coming
from) until you hear a snap and feel
it latch. Make sure the tongue is
securely fastened in the buckle.
2. To unfasten, push the release
button and remove the tongue from
the buckle.
Energy management feature
•This vehicle has a seat belt system with an energy management
feature at the front outboard seating positions to help further reduce
the risk of injury in the event of a head-on collision.
•This seat belt system has a retractor assembly that is designed to pay
out webbing in a controlled manner. This feature is designed to help
reduce the belt force acting on the occupant’s chest.
The front outboard and rear safety restraints in the vehicle are
combination lap and shoulder belts. The front outboard passenger and
rear seat safety belts have three types of locking modes described below:
Vehicle sensitive mode
This is the normal retractor mode, which allows free shoulder belt length
adjustment to your movements and locking in response to vehicle
movement. For example, if the driver brakes suddenly or turns a corner
sharply, or the vehicle receives an impact of approximately 5 mph (8
km/h) or more, the combination safety belts will lock to help reduce
forward movement of the driver and passengers.
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Webbing extraction sensitive mode
The webbing sensitive locking mode locks the webbing and prevents
more belt from being pulled out if the belt is pulled out too quickly. The
belt will unlock when you stop pulling on it.
Automatic locking mode
In this mode, the shoulder belt is automatically pre-locked. The belt will
still retract to remove any slack in the shoulder belt. The automatic
locking mode is not available on the driver safety belt.
This mode should be usedany timea child safety seat is installed in the
vehicle. Children 12 years old and under should be properly restrained in
the rear seat whenever possible. Refer toSafety restraints for children
orSafety seats for childrenlater in this chapter.
How to use the automatic locking mode
•Buckle the combination lap and
shoulder belt.
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•Grasp the shoulder portion and
pull downward until the entire
belt is pulled out.
•Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will hear a clicking
sound. This indicates the safety belt is now in the automatic locking
mode.
How to disengage the automatic locking mode
Ford Motor Company recommends that all passenger safety belt
assemblies and attaching hardware should be inspected by a
qualified technician after any collision to verify that theautomatic
locking retractorfeature for child seats is still working properly. Safety
belt assemblies should be inspected according to the procedures in the
Workshop Manual and must be replaced if either damage or improper
operation is noted. Failure to replace the belt and retractor assembly
could increase the risk of injury in a collision.
Unbuckle the combination lap/shoulder belt and allow it to retract
completely to disengage the automatic locking mode and activate the
vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
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Front safety belt height adjustment
Your vehicle has safety belt height
adjustments for the driver and front
outboard passenger. Adjust the
height of the shoulder belt so the
belt rests across the middle of your
shoulder.
To lower the shoulder belt height,
push the button and slide the height
adjuster down. To raise the height
of the shoulder belt, push the
button and slide the height adjuster
up. Pull down on the height adjuster
to make sure it is locked in place.
Position the safety belt
height adjusters so that the
belt rests across the middle of
your shoulder. Failure to adjust
the safety belt properly could
reduce the effectiveness of the
seat belt and increase the risk of
injury in a collision.
Lap belts
Adjusting the front center seat lap belt
The lap belt should fit snugly and as low as possible around the
hips, not across the waist.
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The lap belt does not adjust
automatically. Insert the tongue into
the correct buckle (the buckle
closest to the direction the tongue is
coming from). To lengthen the belt,
turn the tongue at a right angle to
the belt and pull across your lap
until it reaches the buckle. To
tighten the belt, pull the loose end
of the belt through the tongue until
it fits snugly across the hips.
Shorten and fasten the belt when
not in use.
Safety belt warning light and indicator chime
The safety belt warning light illuminates in the instrument cluster and a
chime sounds to remind the occupants to fasten their safety belts.
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